These Ideas Will Transform Tourism
Summary
This high-impact session hosted by the Travel Foundation at ITB Berlin 2025 presented three investable solutions for tourism's climate transition through a live pitch-and-vote format. Moderated by broadcaster Rajan Datar, the session was framed as a 'pitch simulation' where three experts each had five minutes to present proposals developed through the Travel Foundation's 'Where Next?' campaign — a public consultation launched at London Climate Action Week in June 2024 designed to move the sector from systemic barriers to actionable solutions.
Context was set by Virginia Fernandez-Trapa (UN Tourism) and Jeremy Sampson (Travel Foundation). Virginia cited that the past decade has been the warmest on record globally, that in 2024 more than 150 climate events were registered as unprecedented (almost one every two days), and that only 21% of Glasgow Declaration signatories are currently measuring climate risk (rising to 31% among destination-only signatories). COP 29 in Baku produced a declaration signed by over 70 governments committing to integrate tourism into national climate planning. Virginia also noted that investments in climate adaptation generate returns several times greater than their cost, per the UN Environment Programme's Adaptation Gap Report.
Pitch 1 — Risk Scan 2.0 (Julie Cheetham, CEO of Travelist): A global not-for-profit coalition founded by Prince Harry in 2019, Travelist proposes a destination-level climate and nature risk assessment tool. The pitch cited Banff National Park as a case study: over 4 million visitors annually, with a 33% shrinkage in alpine meadows since 2001, yet lacking decision-useful risk intelligence. Risk Scan 2.0 builds on Risk Scan 1.0 (developed with The Long Run) and adds commercial indicators, ROI metrics, and open-access data infrastructure via Travelist's data ecosystem. Outputs are 'investment-ready' risk and resilience profiles with prioritized action lists. The pitch called for business partners to fund the work and invited pilot destination applications.
Pitch 2 — Risk Insight to Investable Projects (Bijan Khazai, CEO of Risk Layer): Risk Layer, a risk and data analytics company, argued that the sector stalls when converting risk information into funded action. Khazai cited a project with Howden (reinsurance) and Oxford University across 11 Small Island Developing States: today, climate disasters can cost up to 7% of GDP annually in extreme cases (Tuvalu), potentially rising to over 11% by 2050. The team developed a 'stop-loss umbrella program' where losses exceeding 10% of GDP in a given year are covered by insurance, protecting a calculated $23 billion of assets for $312 million per year in pooled premiums across the 11 countries. The proposal calls for a cluster of destinations sharing a risk profile to form investment portfolios spanning hard assets, infrastructure, natural systems, and enabling investments in skills and governance.
Pitch 3 — Resident Sentiment as a Standard KPI (Ewout Versloot, NBTC Netherlands): Versloot proposed making resident sentiment a core destination management indicator — sitting alongside spend and jobs as a standard KPI. The argument: residents sense when tourism is 'tipping' before the data does, making sentiment an early warning system. NBTC plans to launch a new impact monitor in 2025. Versloot acknowledged Doxey's Irritation Index as academic precedent, and stressed measurement must be hyper-local, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, not aggregated at national level where minority voices are lost.
Audience voting via Slido showed nature/climate risk (Pitch 1) and resident sentiment (Pitch 3) nearly tied as most relevant to attendees' contexts. For sequencing, nature and climate risk was voted most deserving of first pilot in 2025. On organizational fit, the top responses were 'knowledge or data partner,' 'convenor or advocate,' and 'interested in learning more,' with only ~4% identifying as potential funding/finance partners.
Key Takeaways
- •In 2024, more than 150 climate events were registered as unprecedented globally — nearly one every two days — underscoring that climate change is now a core operational and economic risk for tourism, not a distant concern (Virginia Fernandez-Trapa, UN Tourism).
- •Only 21% of Glasgow Declaration signatories are currently measuring climate risk; among destination-only signatories the figure rises to 31%, confirming that practical risk tools like Risk Scan 2.0 address a significant gap (Virginia Fernandez-Trapa).
- •COP 29 in Baku produced a declaration signed by over 70 governments acknowledging the need to integrate tourism into national climate planning — the first time tourism appeared on the COP action agenda (Virginia Fernandez-Trapa).
- •UN Environment Programme data cited in session: investments in climate adaptation generate returns several times greater than their cost, strengthening the economic case for immediate action.
- •Banff National Park case study (Pitch 1): 4 million+ annual visitors, 33% shrinkage in alpine meadows since 2001, yet destination lacks decision-useful insights on how risks will play out — illustrating the data gap Risk Scan 2.0 aims to close (Julie Cheetham, Travelist).
- •Risk Layer / Oxford University / Howden project across 11 Small Island Developing States found that climate disasters today cost up to 7% of GDP annually in extreme cases (Tuvalu), potentially rising to over 11% of GDP by 2050. A pooled stop-loss insurance program protects a calculated $23 billion in assets for $312 million per year (Bijan Khazai, Risk Layer).
- •Ewout Versloot (NBTC Netherlands) argued tourism is in 'adolescence' — focused on proving its own worth through spend, GDP, and multiplier metrics rather than measuring its value to host communities. Prediction: NBTC will launch a new impact monitor in 2025 with resident sentiment as a core KPI.
- •Audience poll on biggest barrier to climate resilience: lack of political leadership ranked highest, followed by lack of coordination between actors and competing economic pressures.
Transcript
Hello everyone and w now you can really hear me. Um welcome to these ideas will transform tourism. No modesty wasted here. Um we mean this. Um by the way has it been a buzzy conference for you so far? >> Yeah. It's always buzzy. And have you walked a lot? That's the other thing. You walk a hell of a lot, don't you? Yeah. Good. Um, now I know this is the last session uh on the blue stage here today, but dare I say it, this will be the most dynamic, the most solutionsoriented and the most interact...
